Home Extracts.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 25, 4 May 1870, Page 3

Home Extracts.

A New York' journal says? that fifteen jen, escaped Fenian convicts from Ads--alia, have landed at flan Francisco. On isir subsequent arrival in Ireland, they (e re ‘hlost enthusiastically received at Dublin, Cork, and elsewhere. Agrarian outrages still continue in IreIpiK but not to the same extent ns a short , (ago.’ The second trial of Barrett, for IC V attempted murder of Captain Lamert, resulted, as before, in the jury being • inable to agree. On the present occasion, jowever, it is said that ten of the jurors * fere for a conviction. \ The new Irish Land Bill is by no means

I atisfactory. . An awful explosion of gunpowder ocfurred on February 14, at the Morfa collieries, near Neath, in Wales. Twenty- \ ibree deaths are reported. Another exi plosion occurred in the colliery, by which 1 several men who were searching for the ’ bodies of those who were killed in the previous explosion were themselves killed 01 injured.

1 A disastrous railway collision took place near Glasgow on February 12. It appears that two men and a pilot engine were employed at the Glasgow station in shunting : waggons, when the driver went to his sup- \ per, leaving the stoker, Robert Hay, to r continue the work. The latter, it is be- " Heved, accidentally fell off the engine, and, in catching at the bars, put on the full steam. The engine set off at a great speed, when Hay was caught by the wheels. Along the line torn portions of his clothing were picked up ; half-a-mile on his entrails were found, and the mangled body two miles from Glasgow. In the meantime the engine pursued its way with acceler--50. ated speed till it met the London express, travelling at the slow rate of fifteen miles an hour. The shock was terrific; the engines -were completely wrecked, and the three first, passenger carriages shivered to splinters. A Yorkshire gentleman was killed on the spot, and other persons had broken bones and shocking bruises. Fortunately there were not more than a dozen

J _____ _ - - - passengers in the train. 'S, A strange robbery was perpetrated in Dublin on the night of February 7. The bags which contain the books, briefs, and ) other papers of the members of the bar > are usually taken by a messenger from the * Four Courts in the evening in sacks to the respective residences of the owners. The messenger who performs this duty for the district between Stephen Green and FitzS william Square was on the night in question robbed of a sack containing five bags. On Feb. 15 Captain Gunn, with a party of constabulary, entered the house of Tim. V Mahony, a blacksmith, in Dyos-lane, Cork. They arrested Mahony’s son Denis with a revolver on his person, and found concealed in the house an American rifle, twenty-six rebel pike-heads, 120 rounds of Minie ammunition, and a vast quantity of powder and gun caps. On removing the prisoner, y resistance was threatened by the crowd, but the police force was overpowering. « A correspondent of one of the Scotch ' papers, writing in reference to the Kil- . f donan gold-fields, says : —lt is now that the richness of these gold-fields is coming out. I saw a man the other day who for __ the last five months has never earned less than 15s per day.

A horrible murder was recently committed in Paris, and the following is the assassin’s own account, which he gave with great coolness :—“ I went into the kitchen 6 and got a large carving-knife. Having lit the lamp, 1 proceeded to the drawing room, where I found Madame Lombard working at some tapestry. ‘ Are you satisfied with g mef asked I. ‘Do you think I have I been drinking your wine V My mistress it | replied gently, ‘ Come, come, Francjois, what are you talking about ? Go and lie ' 9 down a little—that’s all you want.’ I then rushed on her, and after a desperate fight • succeeded in cutting her throat.” When », asked the motive of his crime the murderer replied ;—“ My mistress said I had stolen *' a bottle of wine, and that I was drunk. t . 1 could not let such a thing be said about me, and therefore I cut her throat. As n. for the cook, she leagued with my mistress to say 1 was a thief, and she also deserved death." Hopes are entertained that the 1 wounded servants may recover, although their injuries are terrible. The unfortunate gentleman, M. Lombard, already trembling on the verge of the grave, was so much affected by the fearful scene that his death was hourly expected. The perpetrator of 7 1 these horrors is said to have been subject . 0 ; to occasional attacks of insanity, and to 1 have been confined in an asylum in JBelgiurn. A French paper says that M. Lorn--24; bard, the husband of Madame Lombard jj. who was murdered by her servant Lathanvers, is a curious instance of the beneficial effect of a violent shock to the nervous jj system in cases of paralysis. M. Lombard • had been paralysed for ten years, and in- ' capable of moving or uttering a single 3/ word. The horrible scene of which he was

ij the dumb and motionless witness seems to v have worked a complete alteration in his * condition. Ho has begun to speak within the last few days, and two days ago ho •i ’ received a visit from an old friend, to \jSjhom he held out his hand (which he could not move a month ago), and also -Addressed a few word*.• • Knrnpmn MnV.

General Heanvegard, the celebrated Com. federate general, is now in Marseilles. Ho has been for some time past the director of a railroad in Louisiana. His visit to Europe is in connection with a scheme, of which he is an ardent promoter, for the construction of a Southern Pacific railroad, starting from Charleston, in South Carolina, and traversing the Southern States to Sacramento in California. Mr Barry Sullivan has accepted an cn- | gagomenfc at Liverpool. It is reported he I has received from a noble lady a cheque for the munificent sum of XI 0,000, to cover his losses at the Holborn Theatre.

Mr Dion Boucicault has been offered £20,000 for a series of 250 farewell performances in the United States. The same lucky individual has received upwards of £3OOO for assisting Mr Jefferson to adapt Rip Van Winkle, which piece, by the way, will shortly be reproduced in London. The Government have decided to prosecute the father of the Welsh Fasting GirT at the forthcoming Carmarthenshire Assizes; and Mr Giflard, Q.C., has received an intimation from the Attorney-General that he will be required to conduct the prosecution on behalf of the Crown,

A daring robbery was effected at the ' residence of Sir R. Napier, 11 Cromwell 1 Houses, South Kensington, on February 14. A quantity of ladies’ jewellery, valued at £3OOO, was stolen from a dress* 1 ing-room on the second floor. Three men were seen escaping from the house, one of whom dropped close to the feet of a gentleman who had been dining with Sir R. Napier, and had gone out on hearing the j alarm. The house was entered by climbing up a portico, and getting through a draw-ing-room window. On one occasion the late Viceroy of Egypt was made to pay £70,000 (or at the rate of £IO,OOO a-piece) for seven large and splendidly framed mirrors from Paris, the prime cost of which was £250 a-piece. The same man who pocketed this profit had a contract to supply Said’s army with buttons, on tire occasion of some change of j uniform. Now Said, who was fond of military tailoring, little as he knew the price of things, did know nearly the fair cost of military buttons. Disgusted by the exorbitant charge for this item, he sent for the French contractor, an 1 pointing to the total of the bill, be flung it down indignantly, saying in French, “ It is an infamous robbery, and I won’t pay it.” To this the Frenchman coolly replied, “ If I don’t rob your Hignesss, who the deuce would you have me rob 1” The Viceroy was so delighted at the impudence and humour of the man, that he passed his account, and the Frenchman received his money, and afterwards boasted of the presence of mind to which he owed it.

The military and naval estimates have been published, and show a reduction of nearly £2,000,000. Reduction is being carried out in all our military establishments. A terrible accident occurred on Feb. 20 at tlie ironworks at Fourchambault, in France. A boiler exploded, and eight persons were most severely burnt. Amongst the sufferers was the sou of the proprietor of the establishment. Five of the injured persons have died from the results of the burns. The Gazette des Tribunal),x states that M. Rochefort was arrested on Monday night, as he Was about to enter the Public Meeting Hall, in the Rue de Flanders. He made no resistance; but, on the contrary, said to the bystanders, “ Remain quiet, citizens ; I shall soon return to the meeting,” After this, the Commissary of Police and his assistants accompanied M. Rochefort to a carriage, and conducted him to the prison of St. Pelagie. Just after the arrest, M. Flourens, who was present, stepped forward, and, unsheathing the blade from a sword-cane, shouted, “ Rochefort must be set free !” It is asserted that he fired two or three shots from a revolver,

and that others followed his example ; no one, however, was wounded. At the same time the Commissary of Police, who was present at the meeting held inside the hall, declared the meeting dissolved. He was immediately surrounded and dragged into the street, and threatened with death. For upwards of an hour he was exposed to insults and menaces, but was finally rescued by police agents. At about half-past ten an attempt was made to throw up barricades in several of the streets. Carriages and omnibuses were upset, hut the presence of the police sufficed to disperse the rioters. About the same time six omnibuses had been overturned in the Rue de Paris, at Belleville, and a somewhat imposing barricade was thus formed, At one o’clock on Tuesday morning strong detachments of the Garde de Paris and bodies of infantry and cavalry proceeded to Belleville, and the Boulevards at that early hour presented a rather animated spectacle. According to a telegram received from Paris on Wednesday morning, only one serious conflict has taken place, and this occurred in the Rue Oberkampf, where a barricade was removed by the Gardes dcs Paris. The troops did nob make use of their arms. Some stray revolver shots came from the ranks of the rioters, and a police agent was severely wounded. A hundred persons were arrested. Later advices report no further disturbances.

A pinner in an Egyptian Ilarem-^ In a journal of the recent tour of the Prince and Princess of Wales in the East, the Hon. Mrs Grey gives a graphic account of a visit to the harem of the Viceroy of Egypt’s mother ; “Wo drove first through a garden which later in the year must be beautiful,, and wore received at the door of the palace by la,grand princcsso, the second and third wives of the Viceroy (the first and fourth were not well), his eldest son, and two eldest daughters. La grand princesse took the Princess by the hand, while one of the wives handed me, another Mrs Stanton, and one of the daughters Miss M‘Lean, and thus we went in procession to an immense drawing-room, the whole way there

being lined with slaves. We only passed through this room, however, and went straight to the dining-room, after having a cherry given us to eat, handed to us on a most beautiful gold tray, with goblets and plates of gold and precious stones. A slave then offered each of us a silver basin to wash our hands in before we sat down to dinner. In the middle of the ropm there was a kind of round silver table, about one foot high from the floor, looking more like a big tray than anything else ; large square cushions were placed all round it *‘and so we sat down a la Turque round the table; la grand princesse having the Princess of i Wales on her right, next whom was Me-

hemet Taatik Pasha, then the third princess and myself, with the second princess next me, on the left side of the Viceroy’s mother. Mrs Stanton and Miss M‘Lean, with the two daughters of the Viceroy, dined iu another room. A slave now came in very smartly dressed, half the skirt of black satin, embroidered with gold, and with a sort of turban on her head. She had a beautifully . embroidered napkin, with gold fringe, hanging on her arm, and her office was equivalent to that of a European raaitre d’hote. She placed her dish in the middle of the table, beginning with the soup, a sort of chicken broth with rice. We were each given a sort of tortoiseshell spoon, with a large coral branch as a handle, but neither knife nor fork, and then, at a sign from the old princess, we all dipped our spoons into the tureen together. Next came an enormous hit of mutton, of which we had to tear off bits

with onr fingers, and put them straight into our months. About twenty dishe; followed in rapid succession, alternately savoury and sweet. A large sort of omelette, sausages full of garlic, a sweet dish of vermicelli and sugar, fried fish, a sweet dish made of rosewater and tapioca or gum, half liquid, dressed out on the top with almonds, and served in a basin, a dish of hashed meat with onions, a kind of mines of sage, rice, and raw onions, all rolled in a cabbage leaf, followed each other in succession. Then pastry, and some other curious dishes. Sweetmeats, currant jelly, i and thick sour cream were served between; that is, one was allowed to dip one’s spoon in the dishes of these things which remained on the table. The last dish of all was a tureen of boiled rice, in which we all dipped our spoons alternately, with a dish of sweetmeat, A small basin of compote of cherries AVas then put before everybody, and we had done dinner according to Egyptian habits.

I must confess that I never in my life was more disgusted, or felt more inclined to be sick, than I did during this meal. I had had nothing but a cup of coffee in the morning, and the taste of these extraordinary dishes, as well as the sight of all these fingers dipped into the dishes of thick sour cream, or a dish of preserves, and the next moment tearing off a hit of meat or sausage from the same piece of which I felt myself in duty bound to eat, was really too nasty. 1 did refuse once or twice ; but the third princess took it for shyness, and each time took a bit of the dish herself and put it into my hand—once a large onion dipped in gravy ! They complimented us upon our way of eating, saying that we did it very cleverly, and that generally the Europeans eat with all five fingers, but that we only used three, which was quite right. ISo wine or water was served during the dinner; so when the Grand Princess offered roe some liquid stuff in a kind of tortoiseshell cup, I seized hold of it with great delight, in hopes of something to wash down the things I had been swallowing bon fj)'b mal gre, and took a large spoonful of it, thinking it was water and syrup. To my horror, it proved to be some kind of sour stuff—vinegar, with an addition of herbs and cucumbers,—and I could not help making an awful face, tn the great astonishment of the whole party-

A little boy has been run over by a. velocipede at Hokitika, and seriously injuretl about the face and neck. A telegram from Hobart Town, published in the Argus of the 16th instant, states that the Government have issued a lithographic map of the proposed line of the British and Australian Telegraph Company, including the proposed lino of the submarine cable to connect Tasmania and New Zealand. The map is intended for general distribution, and is designed to show that Tasmania affords the great natural advantage of the shortest sea route to | New Zealand.